“Pluto TV is sketchy at best due to contract issues but I don’t have it taken off because lots of the detainees enjoy it” says Ms. Chism, the GEO Group employee over the tablet program at Joe Corley Detention Center.

The GEO Group-owned Joe Corley Detention Center has been and is consciously engaged in a perverted practice of scamming prisoners out of their money through falsely advertising services that can’t be used on the GTL tablet.  The service provider promises that by paying 5 cents per minute, prisoners can access a variety of podcasts, music, movies, and TV programs through the Pluto TV and I-Heart Radio apps. 

And then there’s a bait and switch.

What the service provider doesn’t explain is that the podcast featured and music genre feature on I-Heart Radio has been intentionally disconnected and the music search feature is rigged.  Routine searches for well-known artists often connect the user to audio versions of hardcore pornography and obscene photos.

For instance, when I try to search for a specific song, a song title in Spanish appeared that depicted a closeup photo of what appeared to be a topless teen girl with semen splattered over her face.  A second search for the same song connected me to audio of a woman secretly recording herself having sex with her boss without his knowledge.  A third search took me to an audio recording of two men engaged in mutual oral sex.  The last search, which compelled me to log out, and which was the top search result, for the song I looked for was cellphone-recorded audio of men and women engaged in group sex.

What I learned from toying with this version of I-Heart Radio is that the algorithm intentionally sends the user to porn either in sound or image regardless of the words or phrase being searched. 

First they bait the user in by playing a song or two of their choice.  Then the rest of the session they have them either listening to or looking at porn.  Or waste money and time searching for artists and songs that only exist as avatars that re-route them to pornographic stations.

While prisons have the discretion over the content prisoners can enjoy, the GEO Group signed a contract with GTL where everyone, including staff, agree to not use the tablet to profit off of, engage in, or promote prohibited activities including :  (1) criminal or tortious activity including child pornography, fraud, and trafficking in obscene material and (2) use of the service in connection with pornography.

What is clear is that the GEO Group has been breaching their own contract agreement.  What isn’t clear is who is getting the hush money and kickbacks from the millions of dollars pouring in through this digital pirating scheme.

Editors note:  GEO Group reported a total revenue of $2.63 billion for fiscal year 2025. The company’s net income for the year was $120.1 million, with some company metrics reporting an adjusted annual profit of up to $254 million driven by asset sales and new government contracts.

Jason Renard Walker #39219-177

The Joe Corley Detention Center

500 Hilbig Road
Conroe, TX 77301

Jason Renard Walker is a prison journalist who has published articles and essays in various print and online media outlets since 2016. His work can be viewed at: www.jasonsprisonjournal.com You can also purchase his paperback book ‘Reports From Within The Belly Of The Beast: Torture And Injustice Inside Texas Department Of Criminal Justice’ available on amazon.com